Ask a Wal-Mart worker...

[sarahvait]

Is it true that Walmart Employees have no soul.

I think it's more that working at Wal-mart makes you soulless. But I think that's true of Target, Meijer, and any other large retailer.

 

[sarahvait]

Sorry that this isn't a question as a first response for the topic, but I went to WalMart several times when on holiday in Florida last year. Something actually surprised me over those two weeks, but in a pleasant way, in that the staff in WalMart (and people in general) seemed much friendlier and nicer than people here in the UK. I'm not sure if it's just a local trait of people in Kissimmee (possible), or if it's a general thing in the US, since I've heard about plenty of arrogant bastards in the US of A and was therefore generally pleased to meet such decent people during my time in the country. Especially given this occured a lot in WalMart, whereas British shop staff are generally irritating or idiotic (especially in Asda, which is coincidentally owned by WalMart).

By the way, I toyed with the idea of buying a DVD in WalMart but wasn't sure if it would work on a PAL DVD player or Xbox 360 back in the UK.

Soory, I know this is off topic but I've taken it as my little personal quest to get us Brits to cheer up about ourselves- the whole friendlier and nicer thing, whilst it may have been true for you, would have arguably not been for the next guy in, just as an American coming to the UK would find people very nice and agreeable to him, its a phsycological thing, your a bit out of the ordinary of what they normally see, so you'll have perked up their day a bit thus making them happier to serve you, and you'll be naturally more postive towards them because you're in an interesting new country (that happens to have a somewhat nicer climate than over here). In all honesty, you probably are right to an extent, I've found Americans are moer willing to talk without knowing you that well, but for the most part, people don't vary that much in friendliness terms from country to country. So there, positive thinking rant over. Back to the question at hand.

More a question of all shops but particularly big ones, I saw it in a film and it piqued my curiosity- Do you just sell guns/ammo off the shelves as a normal thing?

I don't know about the guns, but I rang up a fair amount of different kinds of bullets. Bullets are age-restricted items though, like spray paint, certain types of glue, and some cutting instruments.

 

[theklng]

You miss the point of the "Ask a" threads. These threads serve for the escapists to ask questions to strange or unusual individuals about what they do. Being a Wal-Mart worker is not strange or unusual.

What's the point in making a thread entitled "Ask the average joe"? None.

what about those of us that aren't average joes? do you even think before you post?

 

[theklng]

You miss the point of the "Ask a" threads. These threads serve for the escapists to ask questions to strange or unusual individuals about what they do. Being a Wal-Mart worker is not strange or unusual.

What's the point in making a thread entitled "Ask the average joe"? None.

what about those of us that aren't average joes? do you even think before you post?

Statistics say that you are indeed a average Joe.

What if I consider everyone up to the President to be the average Joe?
Do you even think before you post?

there are no statistics that tells whether who is an average joe. it's a subjective term. besides, i could be the president of egypt for all you know. the point is, you're calling this thread useless because you're assuming everybody knows how a walmart works. and in that judgmental statement, you are wrong.

as an aside, these forums need a more efficient way to weed out people than merely spelling and grammar control.

 

[scotth266]

I've never had any problems with Wallyworld myself, actually several employees have helped me there. Once upon a time I got into a habit of twisting my headphone cords around my Ipod, and didn't know that was causing me to go through several pairs in a course of months. Local Wal-Mart dude explained it to me, and now my 'phones last loads longer.

I've also been mistaken as an employee sometimes, as i like dark blue shirts and hang out in Electronics a lot... had several people ask me about stuff that I luckily knew how to answer. One person even asked me for a console recommendation...

 

[theklng]

You miss the point of the "Ask a" threads. These threads serve for the escapists to ask questions to strange or unusual individuals about what they do. Being a Wal-Mart worker is not strange or unusual.

What's the point in making a thread entitled "Ask the average joe"? None.

what about those of us that aren't average joes? do you even think before you post?

Statistics say that you are indeed a average Joe.

What if I consider everyone up to the President to be the average Joe?
Do you even think before you post?

there are no statistics that tells whether who is an average joe. it's a subjective term. besides, i could be the president of egypt for all you know. the point is, you're calling this thread useless because you're assuming everybody knows how a walmart works. and in that judgmental statement, you are wrong.

as an aside, these forums need a more efficient way to weed out people than merely spelling and grammar control.

The average Joe/consumer/public/giraffe constitutes the most part of the populations. And that's a fact. With that said it's more likely that you are an average Joe other then the king of Egypt. See? A simple statistic.

And I fully agree with that last statement of yours! We should also root out the people who have no idea how to use the shift key to punctuate words.

will you stop trolling?

you can't disprove me being the president of egypt, or for that matter any other head of a nation. statistics don't offer proof, they offer probability. so before you start talking, i urge you to think of what you have to say (if anything at all). nobody likes it when people come in and trollbait; and as it is now, you've only pissed on the thread and annoyed people. grow up.

this discussion is pointless, and i will not pursue it further.

 

[kdragon1010]

How would you explain the popularity/hatred of WalMart to an non American?

Seriously as a Brit I can't see what the fuss is about surely WalMart is another supermarket like all the others right?

The hatred of Wal-mart comes from their business tactics. Their favorite thing to do is move into small towns and set up shop. Then they drive all other business out. Then they close down shop and leave the town to die from unemployment. That and they like to fire anyone for even mentioning the word Union. Want to make a the people who work at Wal-mart suffer? Print up some union propaganda the walk around the store dropping it off on shelves and such. Manager will hate you for life if he finds out.

This is exactly why I started this thread. People spouting misinformation.

Prove me wrong. Name a Wal-mart region that is unionized.

He already said Wal-marts DO NOT have unions, I don't see a problem with it. If you work at one and don't like how you're treated quit, if it was so bad everywhere Wal-Mart would not be able to attract any descent employees.

I would challenge you to come up with specific examples of your claims about thier business tacticts. Prefferably with an independant source (ie newspaper articles) to verify your claims.

 

[sneakypenguin]

Do you see us at Target as a full competitor, overlapping competitor, or do you think we cater to a different market? Also kudos on the sales increase in a down economy +1.6% I believe. It pays to be the big discount retailer doesn't it.

Lol I'm sure that wasn't the type of question you had in mind.

Target is the A number 1 super competitor. Pay close attention to how your local Wal-Mart changes in the next year or go to one that has been built recently and things will seem eerily familiar.

Yeah I know wallyworld just built a new one and it's pretty nice,not as warehouse like, so now we have 2 super wal-marts 4 min from each other with my regular target in the center . It's sad for me to see that target isn't quite responding to wallys advancement in customer service like I would hope,( all our comment cards/emails/phonecalls used to say your so much nicer that the "other store" ) now they say I couldn't find help in X dept because we have 5(seriously) people working the sales floor. Our store does 50-120k a day just depends on if it's a weekend, our local super target does about what your store does.(220k on fri and sat)

 

[ChaosTheory3133]

Question, what are the qualifications needed to be a Walmart Greeter? Seems like something anyone can do.

 

[Rath709]

Question, what are the qualifications needed to be a Walmart Greeter? Seems like something anyone can do.

Like that time Dick Cheney was a Wal-Mart greeter?

 

[dangerousdave_42]

More a question of all shops but particularly big ones, I saw it in a film and it piqued my curiosity- Do you just sell guns/ammo off the shelves as a normal thing?

while I don't actually work at walmart the one in my town sells rifles and shotguns but no hand guns

and on a side note while I see the appeal of a union it is not always the way to go I work for the US post office which is highly unionized to the point where it takes an act of god just to fire someone no matter how stupid they are or how lazy they are because the unions backing them.

 

[Grenbyron]

How would you explain the popularity/hatred of WalMart to an non American?

Seriously as a Brit I can't see what the fuss is about surely WalMart is another supermarket like all the others right?

The hatred of Wal-mart comes from their business tactics. Their favorite thing to do is move into small towns and set up shop. Then they drive all other business out. Then they close down shop and leave the town to die from unemployment. That and they like to fire anyone for even mentioning the word Union. Want to make a the people who work at Wal-mart suffer? Print up some union propaganda the walk around the store dropping it off on shelves and such. Manager will hate you for life if he finds out.

This is exactly why I started this thread. People spouting misinformation.

Prove me wrong. Name a Wal-mart region that is unionized.

He already said Wal-marts DO NOT have unions, I don't see a problem with it. If you work at one and don't like how you're treated quit, if it was so bad everywhere Wal-Mart would not be able to attract any descent employees.

I would challenge you to come up with specific examples of your claims about thier business tacticts. Prefferably with an independant source (ie newspaper articles) to verify your claims.

3 Nice Lawsuits involving Walmart and its honest business practices...
http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2008/12/08/daily14.html
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2008/12/24/news/4144199.txt
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Feb/07/bz/FP702070363.html

All preventable if a Union was present. As for the moving in and shucking a town, that is unfortunately legal. No law specifically restricting it. A town I know that is suffering it is Port Angeles, Washington. I am done, but don't let the smiley fool ya people.

 

[SomeGuyNamedKy]

Have you ever seen the '100 Things to do in Wal-mart' list? And if so, have you seen anyone attempt something from the list?

 

[Mindex]

how many times have you had the Wal-Mart stampedes, you know like the one on youtube?

 

[Bowl Full]

Why are Wal-Mart oranges tiny?

When someone breaks something in Wal-Mart and tries to leave the scene without telling anyone and gets caught, do they have to pay?

 

[dijital101]

How would you explain the popularity/hatred of WalMart to an non American?

Seriously as a Brit I can't see what the fuss is about surely WalMart is another supermarket like all the others right?

The hatred of Wal-mart comes from their business tactics. Their favorite thing to do is move into small towns and set up shop. Then they drive all other business out. Then they close down shop and leave the town to die from unemployment. That and they like to fire anyone for even mentioning the word Union. Want to make a the people who work at Wal-mart suffer? Print up some union propaganda the walk around the store dropping it off on shelves and such. Manager will hate you for life if he finds out.

This is exactly why I started this thread. People spouting misinformation.

Prove me wrong. Name a Wal-mart region that is unionized.

Nobody ever said that there was a union, you are full of shit saying that people get fired for talking union. Literally the first class you take when you become a manager is how to handle questions about unions. It is a federal law to allow employees to discuss unions. Walking around passing out "propaganda" is soliciting and can get you removed from the store.